


Between the dotted lines

by yourlibrarian



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen, Meta, Shansu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 18:05:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6715618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the last year I have been reading more stories about a post-Shansu Spike. Given the ending of AtS that isn’t really a surprise. There were stories about a Shansu!Spike before AtS S5 even started. But I’m still hoping for a definitive version of one and I think this is what it might look like.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Between the dotted lines

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted November 16, 2005

It just occured to me that in the last year I have been reading more stories about a post-Shansu Spike. Given the ending of AtS that isn’t really a surprise. There were stories about a Shansu!Spike before AtS S5 even started. But I’m still hoping for a definitive version of one. I’ve read wonderful interpretations of Souled!Spike and Chipped!Spike, PreChip!Spike, newly raised Spike, William, Jerk!Spike and Romantic!Spike. But so far, while there have been some enjoyable takes at Shansu!Spike, I don’t know if any of them have been completely satisfying. And I wonder if this is because, well, we really have no idea what he’d be like. We’ve seen all those other incarnations in canon, but from the sound of it we will never see a Shansu!Spike, so that one is left completely to our imagination.

I’m also wondering what it is I expect to see. It’s not true to say that there has been no difference among all those incarnations of Spike, but I do think he doesn’t actually change all that much, we just get to know him better over time. What little we saw of William prior to being turned is really not enough to know how much of him remains in Spike. The consensus seems to be that all his gentler, more civilized leanings come from the remnants of his human self, and the self-challenging, restless, impetuous, and imperious aspects come from the demon. But it could also be that these things existed in William before, and becoming a demon merely allowed any societal restraints to be lifted. In some ways it comes down to who was right about William -- Spike or Angel -- during their fight in “Destiny.”

SPIKE: 'Cause every time you look at me... you see all the dirty little things I've done, all the lives I've taken... because of you! Drusilla sired me... but you... you made me a monster. 

ANGEL: I didn't make you, Spike. I just opened up the door... and let the real you out.

I tend to believe they’re both right. Spike is very strongly influenced by whomever he admires and whose admiration he wants in return. I suspect part of this difference between them accounts for the difference in their relationship to their parents. Liam may have wanted his father’s respect, but not enough to become the son his father wanted. It’s hard to imagine William would have denied his mother anything had she made her wishes completely clear. And according to Angel, as well as the examples of people vamped on the show (Harmony, Holden, Lawson, Willow, Xander), who the person was before is altered but still fairly consistent with who they are afterward, especially when it comes to their interests and the pillars of their personality. So while Spike would not have become Spike without Angelus influencing him, Angelus simply tapped into what was already in William’s nature.

One other interesting clue is in a seeming reversal in their behavior. One of the few things we know about Liam is that he was irresponsible. Angelus, on the other hand, was responsible. He did care about the things he did, and was also, to some degree, leading a group of people for long periods of time. His acts defined him. For a soulless killer, his version of responsibility was to lead and to plan. One of the few things we know about William is that he was responsible, concerned about his mother’s well being, about looking after her. Spike, on the other hand, was unconcerned about everything, interested only in having a good time. And we know planning wasn’t exactly his strong suit. 

SPIKE: Just threw myself in. Thought it was a party. I liked the rush. I liked the crunch. Never did look back at the victims. 

ANGEL: I couldn't take my eyes off them. I was only in it for the evil. It was everything to me. It was art.

It seems however that the real change was in what held them back. Liam was irresponsible because he didn’t want to live under his father’s yoke and cared only for his own interests. After his death no one controlled him and he could follow his own nature without constraint. William was responsible because he cared about certain people, something which ended with his mother but continued on with Dru. What ended was a social need to be responsive to the opinions of many others as opposed to only a few. 

[A couple of comments David Fury made at the Sacramento Con](http://forums.morethanspike.com/index.php?s=ba4898f4bfe2aa381419b38e3a5724e3&act=ST&f=5&t=3300&st=140) shed light on the writers' view, as well as how some of them saw Xander. I don't think many would disagree that he was often underwritten and this just seemed to worsen as the seasons went on. He had a fair amount to do in S6 but that was mostly due to his pairing with Anya. This seems to contrast with Willow, where Tara is there as an influence in her life, but the storyline still revolves around Willow and her issues with magic and control. On the other hand I don't think we get nearly such an insight into Xander. S6's storyline seemed to humanize Anya more than it helped us understand him. So to hear this certainly helped explain why his development seemed to die on the vine:

_"At the outset Xander was his favourite as he identified with him. As the show progressed he found Xander much harder to write for as the character had become rather pathetic. He enjoyed writing Spike, Anya and Harmony. He liked their humour and that they had very identifiable voices. Joss used to joke that there was something strange about the way David was the best person to write Harmony."_

I rather wonder what qualifies as pathetic to David Fury since my own take is that Harmony is probably the one character best described that way. She was rather pathetic as a human and is even more so as a vampire given that we never really see her as powerful. Yes, she's funny, but unlike most of the other characters (where it may be 50/50), we are almost always laughing **at** her not with her. And I already discussed in another post how Anya doesn't come off as a particularly strong or lucky character either. Xander was the original funny character, there's no reason he had to become less snarky. Was this "pathetic"ness due mostly to the fact that Xander wasn't superpowered?

As evidence for this, see another quote:

_Q: About the ending of Angel._

_He loved the end because it made the case that the fight is the thing. However, he had pitched another idea for an ending to Joss. In his pitch Angel fulfilled the Shanshu prophecy but chose to give the reward to Spike. This caused Spike to be furious as even though it meant he could now go and be with Buffy he didn't want it as Angel's gift. Joss turned the idea down because he felt that if you made Spike human you lost most of the interest in the character and if they ever hoped to return to the 'verse they'd want Spike as a super powered vampire with a soul and not a human. **He suggested that human Spike would essentially be Xander.**_ (Emphasis mine).

My Spander-loving heart did a little dance, because I think many who like the ship have always claimed the reason it works is because Spike and Xander are rather alike under the skin, leading to some great buddy possibilities. Unfortunately while this opinion may have been shared by ME writers, if not Joss, this wasn't a very flattering way to make it for either character. I think having things in common is not the same as saying they're identical. There are still plenty of differences between them, and I don't agree being vampirically powerful is all that makes Spike special. But I seem to be in a real minority there fanwise.

To follow on that thought, I know a lot of folks dislike human AU's exactly because they feel Spike or Angel's vampiric nature is essential to the character. (And I would agree to a point, though I don't think equivalents can't be created in AUs). I agree insofar as I believe a human Angel or Spike would be a distinct character from the vampire, but I _don't_ think that means that they would revert to being the historical Liam and William. Assuming they retain their memories, I think there's a fascinating story to be told about the nature of humanity versus vampires in seeing one of these shansu-ing. Their experiences would have changed those original human personalities (Angel tells Harmony he can't even remember being human) but I don't think they'd simply lose their superpowers and just be the same characters we know. I think that we get that impression from Angel's behavior in "I Will Remember You" but he's only human for a day and the focus of the episode is on what that might mean for his and Buffy's relationship. 

So if Spike had to return to human constraints, how would this affect him? We can see with the soul that he becomes more considerate, more tolerant of the people around him. He still doesn’t like being inconvenienced, and he’s only a little less outspoken, but his behavior with Andrew pre and post-soul is, I think, one of the best indicators of the change. The fact that he grows to care about Angel’s team and works relatively well with the Potentials is something that may well not have happened without the soul. However he is still a vampire, outside of many social boundaries, and not a real part of human life patterns. So what if he was?

For one, I think he’d go through a bad period of adjustment, but that he would adjust, fairly well in fact, provided he had people who cared about him and for whom he cared in return. It’s in his nature to make the most of any particular situation he finds himself in. He’s not going to like being constrained but he’s not going to angst over it forever either. I see it more as being a source of perpetual annoyance but one he learns to work around. I think he’s going to become testier than he was post-soul, because more things are going to irritate him than ever and, as often as he’s been around humans, he’s still going to find himself befuddled by things he’s never had to deal with before. I also think his mortality is going to affect him in philosophical ways. He’s died, and been prepared to die, a great many times. It’s very different however from knowing that he is in a long, slow, death arc. Death isn’t a possibility to be cheated, it’s a certainty to be faced. I think he’s going to become aware of things around him in a way he never was before. I think he’s going to find more solace in the company of others. I think it may even bring him some wisdom (as opposed to just insight). He’s truly seen it all and this is his final act. I think he’s going to go out grumbling, flawed, but at his peak. As Angel once said to Buffy, once you strip away everything else, what’s left? Just him.


End file.
